Unacceptably missed deadlines! Lifesaving railroad technology—Positive Train Control—still lacking on almost all rail lines, despite Dec 31 deadline. FRA must hold them accountable with $27,904 per day fines if necessary.

Metro North's failure to meet the deadline for Positive Train Control is absolutely unacceptable. Requested delay to next year seems to put safety at risk, after repeated extensions.

Congress must be clear to rail companies: No more statutory extensions for Positive Train Control deadlines. Stiff fines & other penalties should be imposed for future failures. Rail safety is at stake.

Because of the #TrumpShutdown, 800,000 workers are not getting paid, but senior officials are receiving a raise? Utterly unfair & another insult to the hardworking men & women currently working w/out pay & forced to make substantial sacrifices while the gov't is closed.

Will Barr hearings be another rush to judgement Trump confirmation? The Senate Judiciary Committee needs documents, background investigation, & all relevant materials well before January 15. washingtonpost.com/politics/senat…

Mr. Barr must be fully forthcoming about his views on the Special Counsel’s investigation & any conversations with Trump or anyone else about it.

He must be willing to make firm & specific commitments about protecting the Special Counsel’s investigation, ensuring DOJ’s independence from political interference, & upholding the rule of law.

In an administration filled with self-enriching & self-aggrandizing grifters, Secretary Mattis stood out as a model of patriotism & public service. As a matter of national defense, but also personal integrity, he will be deeply missed across the political spectrum.

In Secretary Mattis’ letter is the plea of a patriot put in an untenable position. It culminates a series of unacceptable decisions & actions by Trump alienating our allies & embracing our enemies, rejecting sound & stable advice from top military, civilian, & intel experts.

Secretary Mattis’ resignation is deeply alarming—almost our worst nightmare. He leaves a chasm of leadership that could be destabilizing to national security policies & morale.

Related threads

Still find myself surprised by people who are extremely into politics without any concrete policy objectives per se, particularly on the Democratic side. It's basically fan culture.

"So and so seems like a nice person who means well" is definitely how normal people decide they like politicans in passing. But there's a subset of people who launch whole crusades on the basis of that feeling, and I still find it bizarre no matter how many times it happens.

Some of the anti-Sanders stuff is projection from people who can't understand politics beyond personalities. People who don't get that if Sanders backed away from Medicare for All tomorrow, he'd be tossed aside like a used tissue.

Still digesting #SHA2018. One thing that came up that will probably keep digesting for a while.

Let's start: There's a huge connection between how employers treat their workers, and workplace outcomes.

This includes pay. But "how workers are treated" also means workplace conditions/safety, and my personal fave, how much of their time they spend on actual productive work vs kludging to get their job done in spite of management's failures.

When management's stingy, abusive, or just plain wastes workers' time, it causes resentment. It's shitty leadership. People won't put their best work in if YOU, the management, won't put YOUR best work in.

So. Important thing to remember: The GTR Franchise ISN'T just Thameslink. It's Southern (and bits) as well, all coming together in what was meant to be a super-franchise. /2

Now - if y'all remember - that Southern (and to a lesser extent Thameslink) parts of the network were ALSO a massive clusterf*ck shortly after GTR took over - because of the issue of Driver Only Operation. /3

Despite growing up relatively poor, my life felt quite magical. Practically, single-handedly my incredible mother did everything she could to push me and to make sure I went to college. Good things just happened and I naturally did well in school. But, this was all an illusion

I was a creature of comfort

In every facet of my life I was seeking comfort

Work
Personal

My mother protected me from real work. My only concern was good grades and that came easy. I got away with this while in school but the bills came due as I entered the real world.

My mother filled me with a large amount of self esteem. The belief that I could be anything I wanted to be. My results at school reinforced this belief. This was an empty self-esteem not based on competence or work ethic.